Edinburgh Festival 2014 – The Prologue

The annual 4am CAB whistle-stop tour of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has begun. As Cheryl would say, Hoo-bloody-rah!

I have a packed out itinerary for the trip, my spreadsheet currently has me down to see seven shows today and a rather leisurely five tomorrow before returning in the evening. Wish me luck, and a lot of coffee.

Rather than preview anything now (I’ve not bought any tickets yet) I’ll be tweeting what I see as I wait to be let in. Follow the progress into madness here: www.twitter.com/4amcab

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S3Ep4: Classy

The 4am Creative Advertising Bureau have a new assignment.

The Japanese want to take an English delicacy and rebrand it.  Fleur and Martin are ready to take on the considerable challenge but Brett has been listening to chinese whispers. This could all go to pot if they’re not careful.

Rupert and Beryl are breaking up whereas Mr Darcy is about to the pop the question and our roving reporter ventures oop north.  Debbie, meanwhile, is finding James a bit hard to swallow.

4am CAB puts on it’s airs and graces before embarrassing itself by using the wrong fork.  It’s time for the fourth episode of Series 3 – what oh!

Watch out for the Angry priest!

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Glowing Praise

It’s August, traditionally the month for all those with any connection to comedy to shout and retweet all the praise from their Edinburgh shows. Well, 4am CAB hasn’t made it to the festival (Lee is going as a punter on Tuesday – watch twitter for updates) but we’ve received a wonderful review regardless.

I’ve been a follower of Goodpodcasts.com since they began over a year ago. They have taken on the enormous (and probably endless) task of finding the very best from the world of podcasts and sharing them with the real world. Over the last year, we’ve been mentioned on their website numerous times, not least since Series 3 began when we’ve found ourselves part of their weekly highlights.

Well, this week we’ve been honoured by a full review, and a brilliant review it is:

“…to say that it is a comedy sketch show somehow doesn’t feel enough. You wouldn’t know that this wasn’t a commercially available programme – there are multiple actors, extremely high production values, and an excellent standard of writing.”

Not bad eh? Well, it goes on…

“…the whole thing is a consistent quality of audio production – music mixed with sound effects, vocal treatments etc. There is an (almost) anything goes approach to the tone of the show, it can veer into some dark territory sometimes but skillfully never oversteps the mark.”

I know! You can read the full review here and while you’re there check out some of the other recommendations too, covering all genres, not just comedy.

So, thank you very much to Goodpodcasts.com for their continued support. It’s great to know that people enjoy the show and understand exactly what, and why, we’re doing what we do. I think I’ll leave the last word to them:

“…currently on series 3, and as the main driving force Lee Wilson claims to have been made a nervous wreck due to the pressures of producing this show, a) you owe it to him to listen to it if you haven’t yet, and b) he needn’t be a nervous wreck as the show is very funny, I wish there were more like it!”

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S3Ep3: Work It Out

It’s very quiet at the 4am Creative Advertising Bureau today.

Cheryl calls in a favour from Martin who takes his new responsibilities very seriously.  With great power comes a great deal of arsing around, especially when the coffee machine is still knackered.  Meanwhile, Brett has lost his passport, Fleur has lost the plot and Ian has lost the thing he finds most precious.  Oh and what do you think of when you hear Turkey Timeshare?

We have an extremely limited range of actors for hire, we eavesdrop on a couple of unconventional interviews and all the while James is struggling to pick up his daily perk me up.   Also, if they can get their act together, The Mob might just have the answer to all their problems.

4am CAB dusts off it’s best suit and joins the sweaty commute for the third episode of Series 3

Oh, and watch out for Nigel.

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S3Ep2: Puppy Love

Another day dawns on the 4am Creative Advertising Bureau.

New kid on the block, Martin, is very excited.  Today he joins the 4am CAB team – not that he’s getting paid though, much to his mothers annoyance.  It’s a dog eat dog food world out there.

We unleash the trailer for the next big summer blockbuster, Tim has a date but is struggling to tell the time and Gav ‘n’ Trixie are bashing their heads together and seeing stars.   There are a pair of hot blooded slugs, the eternal search for the potato peeler and we get lovey-dovey in the poetry club.

We get crazy in love for the second episode of Series 3 – maybe you should buy your man some flowers?

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Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/4amcab
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Subscribe on itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/id526057669

For a full list of credits, visit www.4amcab.com/credits

 

 

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S3Ep1: Creatively Speaking

Welcome to the 4am Creative Advertising Bureau.  Brett is enduring a self-inflicted mid-twenties crisis, Cheryl is having a bakery emergency, Fleur just wants the coffee machine to work and all the while Ian is living in his own little world.  The 4am CAB is open for business, just.

Meanwhile, there’s a wardrobe malfunction of epic proportions, the local constabulary is piloting a new identity concept, and there’s nothing but repeats on the radio.

4amCAB returns, just like it’s never been away.

Play

Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/4amcab
Like the facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/4amcab
Subscribe on itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/id526057669

For a full list of credits, visit www.4amcab.com/credits

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Series 3 Tease

4am CAB returns on the 15th July 2014 with Series 3.

Ian has commissioned an advert to tell you all about the 4am Creative Advertising Bureau, or 4am CAB as it’s know in the industry.  The Voice Over guy has an attitude but thankfully there’s a spare hanging around.  Ian thinks it’s a good idea to be in the advert himself.

We’re gearing up for the new series, what could go wrong?!

Episode 1 is almost here.

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too quiet (piano) by oldDog is licenced under Attribution (3.0)
Drive by Alex featuring cdk & Darryl J is licenced under Attribution (3.0)

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All going to plan

It’s a strange feeling for everything to be going to plan, but, everything is. I’ve done four recording sessions so far for series 3 with various cast members and everything is backed up as far as Episode 3 (and a few sketches beyond). The editing is the big labour intensive task now and I’m please to report that that too is coming along nicely.

A little bit of news, I have secured two guest voices for series 3, one of which is Radio 4’s Kathy Clugston. I felt ashamed that I’d only used Kathy for the voice of a Sat Nav in previous series and I’m thrilled to say that the performances she’s given for series 3 are totally fab! The other voice is a closely guarded secret and I’ll reveal that halfway through the run as the scene he is in approaches. Hint: he’s delirious to be on board.

So, we’re on target for the first episode to be released on 15th July. Hoorah! I realise that pride comes before a fall but hopefully this time I won’t be holding the hard drive when that happens.

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Recording begins

Last night, after a lot of time spent in front of the blinking cursor of doom, we finally made it into the studio.  I say studio, it was Anna’s front room – thanks Anna!

Lee and Ian pose for a photo

Lee and Ian (not to be confused with Ironman)

This is the perfect opportunity to introduce you to the two newest members of The 4amcab Company: Ian and CJ. 

When the first episode is released you may recognise Ian’s voice from a previous episode.  Ian was the main storyline character in S1Ep4 – Hainault?, playing a very tired Martin, who falls asleep on a night bus to Hainault and ends up robbing a petrol station.  Ian has ventured north, out of London, to join us for the whole of Series 3.

CJ and Ian look on, as Lee pretends to do some acting

CJ and Ian look on, as Lee pretends to do some acting

CJ is the other new member to join the merry band of 4amcab actors.  CJ has worked extensively in theatre, both behind the scenes and on the stage.  The first thing I asked her to do was speak in a Dutch accent and pretend to be on a porn shoot – as she didn’t run away, I think she’ll fit right in!

More details will be published soon on The 4amcab Company page.

So the first session is done, with more on the way.  Now the mamoth task of editing almost 4 hours of intensive 4amcab goodness begins.  We are very much on our way to Series 3.  Exciting, eh?

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